Supply chain analyst says e-commerce may be worst hit by US tariffs
“When you look at the executive order that the Trump administration did, it revoked the ‘de minimis’ allowance for e-commerce goods into the U.S., such as Temu and SHEIN. So the biggest hit will be those players, as well as Amazon.”
President Donald Trump delayed ending the trade loophole that allows low-value packages to arrive duty-free from China on Friday, meaning the products can continue to enter the U.S. without tariffs—for now. The move is the latest in a series of tariff announcements and delays this week.
Earlier this week, Trump’s executive orders for tariffs on Chinese goods also ended “de minimis,” which allows retailers like Shein, Temu and Amazon to send packages to the U.S. quickly and cheaply.
A legal term, “de minimis” means matters of little importance, and in the case of imports from China, the U.S. bypasses typical customs procedures and tariffs worth less than $800 that are sent to individuals.
Two days after Trump signed the executive order, the U.S. Postal Service announced it would no longer accept packages from China and Hong Kong. The suspension was short-lived, as the USPS reversed its decision on Wednesday after the president amended the tariff order to allow for packages worth $800 or less to arrive in the U.S. without taxes until the Commerce Department can build the systems to process the packages and collect the tariff revenue “expediently.”
What is ‘de minimis’?
The de minimis exemption refers to Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and allows the Secretary of the Treasury to waive some duties or fees where it is more inconvenient to collect the tax than the revenue would actually be worth.
In other words, it is a trade loophole that allows for low-value goods to be shipped to the country duty-free.
Nearly half of all packages with de minimis exemptions come from China, and more than 30% of all daily packages shipped under de minimis are from Temu and Shein, Reuters reported.
Tariff delay on ‘de minimis’ latest in flurry of tariff moves
Trump signed orders on Feb. 1, issuing tariffs against China, Mexico, and Canada that were scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 4.
He subsequently paused the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods following talks with the countries’ leaders, President Claudia Sheinbaum and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who agreed to help with border security.
But the 10% tariff on Chinese goods went into effect Tuesday morning. Shortly after, China’s finance ministry announced it would start imposing targeted tariffs of 15% for U.S. coal and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some cars. Trump told reporters Tuesday, “That’s fine,” and he was in no rush to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Contributing: Reuters
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.
